“We’ve Got a Big Problem”: Speaker Boehner on White House’s Arrogance of Power

After another week of the White House shifting, revising and walking-back its account of its involvement in the IRS scandal, the American people deserve a straight answer and Republicans “are going to continue to seek answers until we get to the truth,” Speaker Boehner said at a press conference today. Here’s more:

“Well, today is a new day, which means that we’re sure to get a new story from the White House on the IRS scandal. First they told us that the White House learned from the news that the IRS was targeting conservative groups, but then we hear the president’s lawyer knew a report was coming. But, they said that she didn’t know the details. Of course, we came to find out that wasn’t true either. And then we learned it wasn’t just the president’s lawyer – it was a number of his closest advisors as well. And of course, despite first claiming to be blindsided by all of it, we now know that his Deputy Chief of Staff was even involved in the planning of the announcement.

“Drip, drip, drip – every day there’s something new.”

As Speaker Boehner noted, House committees are continuing their investigations into the IRS scandal, most recently with a hearing in the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee, and the administration’s response to the terrorist attacks in Benghazi. That investigation will continue with a deposition from Accountability Review Board (ARB) co-chairman Ambassador Thomas Pickering, the committee announced this week. From Speaker Boehner:

“We don’t know how deep this extends within the administration, and that’s why our committees are going to continue to investigate this. But what is most troubling in this White House is that the lights are on but there doesn’t seem to be anybody at home.

“The IRS systematically violated the rights of Americans for almost two years. The Treasury Department knew about this last year. The White House was made aware of it last month, yet no one – no one – thought that they should tell the president. Fairly inconceivable to me.

“We are going to continue to seek answers until we get to the truth. The administration hasn’t been upfront with the American people about Benghazi. They’re suggesting that reporters are criminals for doing their jobs. And we can’t get a straight answer from them on the IRS.”

“What we’re seeing from this administration is an arrogance of power,” Speaker Boehner said in light of these unfolding scandals, “when Americans can’t count on some semblance of truth and honesty from their government, we’ve got a big problem.” Even as the House maintains its focus on economic growth and jobs, it will continue fulfilling its obligation to hold the administration accountable and get to the bottom of the IRS scandal, Benghazi, sweeping investigations of reporters – and anything else that warrants the scrutiny of the people’s representatives.